POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Framed photographs of every Point Pleasant football team that’s made the playoffs line a wall in their locker room.
Whether this year’s group would earn a spot there ended up being out of their hands.
“We were crossing our fingers that it would all work out for us, but we just didn’t know,” Point Pleasant head Coach David Darst said.
After winning their last regular season game, Point Pleasant believed they’d secured a playoff berth, only to learn a day later the playoff seeding system had changed, and they were being left out.
“When you get told you were out after being told you’re in, it’s like a slap in the face, and that’s what it felt like,” senior receiver and corner Reece Hunt said.
Later, after a Mason County judge’s ruling, they thought they’d get a play-in game against St. Albans, but that was nixed.
The Big Blacks kept practicing, not knowing whether they’d get the opportunity to play another game, awaiting a court ruling that would determine their playoff fate.
“It was day-by-day,” Hunt said. “You didn’t know what to think.”
Tuesday evening, the team was practicing when the coach got a call from their lawyer telling him about the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals’ ruling, and the players were together when they learned they’re back in the playoffs.
“It was a great bundle of joy,” senior lineman Connor Buckle said. “We’ve been waiting. We worked really hard, and we feel like we earned that spot.”
“I just felt like we were on the right side of how we needed to do things, and it did turn out that way,” Darst said.
The 15-seed Big Blacks are scheduled to play at 2-seed Fairmont Senior on Friday night. The team is thrilled to get to play together at least one more time.
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